The end of my career

I have worked at my company for almost a year and a half now but today is the day I tell them that I am leaving. I have never been career driven and never wanted to "move up the corporate ladder". I basically was working until the Lord saw fit to give us a family and since that is happening its time to say sayonara to interpreting.

I had thought that maybe I would want to stay with the company if it was benefical to me but after talking to one of my bosses, it doesn't really seem that way. There are three levels of status within the company for interpreters- full-time, part-time, or independant contractor. I have been part-time since I joined but knew that there was some type of minimum of hours that one needed to work to stay within the company. Right now I can basically work anywhere from 0-29 hours in a given work week since I decide my schedule. Its nice since it gives me plenty of flexibility without demanding a certain amount of hours. But once Blake is here, I really don't want to work at all. I have been longing, since I was a little girl, to just be a stay-at-home mom who would be able to give my full attention to my family. I thought that maybe I would be able to still keep my status within the company but only work like every 5 or 6 months. But that is not the case.

For both part-time and independant, the hours demanded for work are the same and if you do not work at all for three months then you are considered terminated. After talking with my scheduler, he recommended for me to come in at least every 4-6 weeks to keep up to date on what is happening at work, like reading new policies or doing training. He said if I came in every 3 months it would be harder to be kept informed (plus since he makes the schedule, he would rather I work more and not less to cover the company's needs, I am sure). But that is not something I want to do at all. I wouldn't even want to come in at least until Blake is 6 months but obviously that can't happen since the time limit is I must work within 3 months.

So after talking it over with the scheduler and getting more info and talking it over with James, it seems best that I just leave. I really wouldn't want to work at all but just thought maybe it would be nice to have it on the back burner if I needed to. So today I tell them that this week is my last week. I did not schedule myself for the whole month of November and was planning on not working anymore at the end of October. My energies and thoughts are all on baby prepping at this time and its really hard for me to stay motivated to go to work and do a good job. James has been doing pretty well with his new job so we figure its best to cut ties now.

I just am not thrilled about telling my boss. Its never easy to tell your superior that you want to leave. I really don't think she will have a problem with it but I do feel its a little last minute although I couldn't have told her any earlier since she has not been at work for the whole month of October. Today is the day she is back and today is the day to tell her of my decision.

I am looking forward to being done with the whole career thing. I am so ready to start my new job as a mother and to be able to focus more on my family and not have my time divided. I can't wait until this day and this week is over with then I'll be free!

Jane Austen Tea Party

Last Saturday I hosted a tea party for my friends. It was the perfect girly activity to do on a lovely afternoon. This is what part of the invitation looked like...

The Gregga Manor is open to all ladies of high society to come and enjoy a delectable brunch followed by the viewing pleasure of the beloved "Emma" in the private theater. Please come dressed up in your best and most creative Jane Austen era style of clothing. White day-gloves not required but English accents are. See you at the tea, ladies!

I had the table set for a sit down brunch and tea. The menu included pumpkin bread, warm scones with pumpkin butter, cucumber tea sandwiches, chicken salad tea sandwiches, chilled cucumber salad, apple-pear salad, deviled eggs, tea, and hot apple cider.

We enjoyed our brunch and each other's company and then went into the "private theater" to watch the Jane Austen classic, "Emma".



Everyone was asked to dress up as best they could in something that would recall the days of old. It was fun to be able to get together and see what the other came up with.



I think the tea was a success and there might just have to be another one in the future. Ta-ta for now!

Fall days

Like I said in my previous post, I love fall. I love decorating for it and being able to make the house feel warm and cozy. Too bad I don't have much in the way of actual decorations but I use what I have. Eventually I will build up a collection and will be armed to the teeth in all things autumn! Its funny because my older sister Sunny absolutely hates decorating with seasonal items. I think she believes its a waste of time and she just doesn't like the work put into it. I was surprised when she said she actually decorated for Christmas last year and enjoyed it! haha



This is what can be seen at my house at this time of year...



Our front stoop so lovingly outfitted for fall. James put out the family of three pumpkins and said that the two big ones are me and him and Blake is the little one.







Last week as I was at home in the morning, I saw a big shadow come down onto our deck. I looked out and there was this hawk. I ran to get my camera as he jumped down to the ground. I waited to see if he would make himself visible again and he did. Perched so beautifully on the deck, I snapped the picture. Its not every day that they get this close!



Yay for October!

Blake's firsts

I thought that for sure once we found out which gender we would be having, that James would run out to the paint store to decide what color we should paint the room. He had said in the past that if it were a boy he really wanted to paint the room blue. I still wanted to go with a neutral color incase we have a girl next time so that way we would not be repainting in a few years. But some of my friends that have little girls have used blue in their rooms and say that it works well. So I said that blue would be fine but it would need to be a light blue, not blue-boy, but a blue that could work either way.

Well, its been two weeks since we found out we are indeed having a boy and nothing has been done! The main reason is that we just don't have the time! James is working 6 days a week and the free time that he does have is wrapped up in other things. I am the same way. Either during the week I am so busy that I just have no time and then the weekend comes along and I have been out and about doing other things.

We probably will have my dad paint the room in Nov or Dec since James really won't have the time to do it and I am not doing it by myself. I so badly want to get into the room and reorganize it though but have yet to find the time to do it. This is what Blake's room looks like now...

It has basically been a "catch-all" room since we moved in. It looked a little better at one point but you know how junk tends to accumulate.

And the walk in closet is not walkable! The floor is crammed with boxes and stuff. I need to take everything out and store it somewhere else.

Even though his room doesn't look like much now, I don't think it will take me too long to get things organized. I already reorganized the garage so that way most of this stuff will be able to go in there. I'll be fired up and ready to go in November! I am not planning on working anymore after the end of this month so all the things I want to do and keep thinking about will be able to get started in a couple more weeks. My desire to do, do, do is a little over the top at the moment. It must be the whole nesting thing because I have lists upon lists of what I want to do before Blake is here.

I also thought we would maybe start buying a few items for Blake or that in the very least my MIL would get an outfit for him because she has talked so much about shopping for him before she knew he was a him. But lo and behold one of my friends was the first to buy him an outfit! We had her and her adorable family over on Sunday (she is due with her third in December) and they had a little gift for us. This is Blake's very first article of clothing. I love baby stuff. I can't believe that I will have my very own baby that will be able to use this. I am so excited!

The only other item that we have for Blake is a baby Dumbo that I bought while at Disneyland last month. I thought it would be a cute way to commemorate the fact that I was pregnant with my first baby and was at Disneyland, the place where dreams come true. :) Dumbo is soft and cuddly and comes with a little blanket that is detachable.




The only problem is that Guinness thinks its a toy for himself. He absolutely loves stuffed toys and can destroy them in five minutes flat so I have to keep baby Dumbo high on a shelf where Guinness can't get him. What are we going to do when we have soft baby toys all over the place??




So there you have it. Blake's first bedroom, his first outfit, and first stuffed animal. Isn't the beginning of things so exciting?

Autumn is here, youth group, and a trip to the orchard

I believe that autumn is my favorite season and October is the month where things all come together. Its not too hot or too cold. The days are cool and bright with the sun shining through the gloriously hued trees. That particular smell of "fall" is in the air and its the perfect time to snuggle in with some hot tea and a good book. Ahh, fall! How I love thee!

So far I have been very busy and taking advantage of my wonderful season. Between work and day to day stuff, our weekends have been jam-packed with fun things to do. The first weekend in October we hosted a youth group event. At the start of this school year, James was asked to be the Sunday School teacher for our church's Jr High and High Schoolers. He was excited to be a S.S. teacher again since he had taught the Jr Highers at our previous church and enjoyed it immensely. We decided to have the youth over on a Saturday night. James and the kids met at the church to play a rousing game of "Capture the Flag" and then they all came to our house where they fed on taco salad and made smores from our fire-pit in our backyard. We all had a great time and plan on doing more stuff with them in the future.

The next weekend Danielle, Dad, and I took an hour drive out west. We drove along miles and miles of cornfields to reach our destination in Malta, IL at Jonamac Orchard. They have apple picking, an enormous corn maze, petting zoo, kid play area, pony rides, pumpkin picking, and a country store where you can buy homebaked goodies. It was a gloriously beautiful day that was in the 80s. Perfect for walking the maze and being outdoors.

Dad and Danielle at the entrance of the maze.





This is the actual maze! They do a new design every year. We only walked about half of it and it took us 20 minutes to go through it.






They had a bridge that you could walk up and look out above the corn field. So here I am surrounded by corn.





Oh, no Dad hacked my head off!


When we arrived we did the maze first. It was absolutely enormous and we only went through half of it. We wanted to have enough time to do some other things and didn't have a hours to spend there so we did the first half of the maze then walked along the grounds. They had a bunch of things for families to do and a lot of people were there. We originally had planned to do some apple picking and pumpkin picking but because of the time frame, we decided against it. For the apples you had to go out to the actual orchard but the pumpkins were already lined up in a row and you just grabbed one. I wanted to go to an actual patch and was disappointed they didn't have one. Instead we decided to go inside the country store and see what yummies we could buy.

They had your usual country kitsch for sale along with a bakery and fudge shop. I decided not to go crazy with the buying and bought only a jar of pumpkin butter, apple cider, and some small pumpkins that I would use for decorating. Dad, on the other hand, grabbed things left and right to fill his basket! He bought apple doughnuts, veggie bread, pumpkin bread, apple butter, a peck of apples, and maybe some small pumpkins too. He totally got into the fall spirit and was very happy with his purchases.

After we bought our items, we headed to the car to put them away and grab our bagged lunches that we had brought. We enjoyed a nice lunch outside under some shade and just enjoyed the people-watching and the weather. Looking at the families around us, we talked about how much fun it'll be when Blake is here and how we will be able to take him to do those types of things. I am excited about starting our own family traditions. My parents never really took us to do stuff like this when we were growing up. That day was the first time my dad had ever been through a corn maze, he didn't even know what one was! So being able to take my own son out and create family memories is something I am very much looking forward to.

After lunch we headed back for the drive home. It was a wonderful day spent with my sis and my dad. :)

Think blue!

That's right people, we are having a boy! I had my ultrasound this morning at 7:30am, I had to get it early enough so that James could go with me before work. So we get to the doctor's office and had to fill out a bit of paperwork since our insurance had changed due to James' new employer but once that was done, the ultrasound tech called us back. She had me lay down on the table and put the goop on my belly then started right away. We first saw his little head and checked a few things out and then it was time for the butt check. :) She knew that we wanted to find out so when she went to the specific area she told us that we were looking at the underside of the baby's sitting position. You could make out his legs and right inbetween was a little buddy. She said, "Its a boy." James said "so is that his wiener?" and she said "yes, that is the penis." James and I were laughing about it later on what he had called it. We high-fived each other in the ultrasound room and continued to watch as she started measuring and checking out other things. He was shaking his little head and he flipped around at one point. It was so amazing to see and to compare the amazing growth spurt that he has had since the last ultrasound.

After she was done with all the measurements and picture taking, we went back to the waiting room to wait until we got called in to the exam room to speak with the doctor. As we were waiting we were talking about how awesome it was and how exciting it is that we are having a boy. James said that he almost started tearing up in the ultrasound room when he heard it was a boy. He really wanted to have a boy the first time around and it was sweet to see how strong his emotions were about it. He started talking about all the stuff they could do when he is older and how he will get to teach him things. Aww!

So we get called back into the exam room where I was weighed (I gained 6 lbs in 4 weeks, is that too much?) and the doctor comes in to explain the ultrasound pics. He went around showing us what was what and saying that everything looked normal and healthy at this point. Brain, kidneys, heart, and spine showed no abnormal defects so that was good to hear. The visit didn't last long since we didn't really have any questions and just wanted to get out of there so we could start making phone calls. :)

So, yes, its a boy! We have the name picked out already and our little boy will be named after my father-in-law (this is the first grandson for the Gregga side). So he will be called William Blake Gregga but will go by his middle name, Blake. Little Blakey, we are so excited to be your parents and can't wait for your big arrival in a few short months! Let the baby planning fun begin!



20 weeks- Little Blake safe inside





His head and body. There is a bright white line under his head, that is his arm curled around the side of his face.




His cute little foot.

Christmas in September?

Call me crazy but last week I started thinking about Christmas. I am definitely loving the whole change of the season thing since fall is my favorite time of year but I want to get a head start on Christmas this year. (Don't mess with an insomniatic preggo woman, she gets too many ideas!) Every year I say I want to get a head start on it but then end up scrambling until the week before Christmas to finish up my shopping and mailing out of presents. Last year was really bad and I ended up spending a butt-load of money on shipping because I needed to have it rushed to make it to its destinations by Christmas. I so don't want to do that this year! I found this great website called http://www.organizedchristmas.com/ which has tons of organizational sheets that you can print off to keep your Christmas planning running smoothly. I tend to write stuff down on whatever scrap of paper I have but looking at this website, I am determined to have a "Christmas binder" in which to keep everything in one place. The site offers Christmas decoration inventory, gift idea planner, Christmas budget planner, Christmas meal planning, Christmas cleaning chores, etc sheets that are free and printable. This completely satisfies the organizational freak within me! I just hope I have the time to actually do the stuff I want to do. I'll keep you posted...

20 Weeks

I cannot believe that I am at the halfway point now! There were plenty of times that I thought I would never make it this far. But I rejoice in the fact that the Lord is faithful and he has seen fit to bring me and the baby this far. Yay! There has been LOTS of movement with baby. I think I started feeling it move by week 15 but it was so rare and infrequent and since I wasn't sure exactly what it was supposed to feel like, I didn't put much stock into it. When I was in California, I could definitely tell that there was life fluttering about and then by week 18 it happened everyday throughout the day. It is the strangest feeling but completely awesome. :)

Last week James and I were hanging out in front of the tv after dinner and the baby started kicking pretty hard so I told James to put his hand on my belly to see if he could feel it. We waited for a bit and then I said "There!" as the baby moved and James was able to feel it. He was pretty awe-struck by it. He felt it a total of three times that night. Which was pretty cool.

It is still surreal to think that there is a human growing inside of me. Our baby! We both can't really wrap our minds around it. It probably won't really sink in until the baby is out and in our arms and we are shifted into the automatic role of parenthood. How exciting this all is!

We find out what gender the baby is this Friday morning. Have any guesses on what it is? I sure don't. I have no strong feelings either way but am REALLY looking forward to finding out what it is. Once we find out the sex then we are kicking it into high gear as far as getting the nursery ready and registering and all that other fun stuff. We have our names picked out so that is settled. I am ready to know so I can start referring to the baby by its proper name instead of "it" and "baby". Pictures and the gender announcement will be posted on Friday. Can you feel the suspense??